When a reader changes your past
It took me about a year to write my memoir This Miraculous Life, and then almost another year went into getting it published. And after the book was out there, I thought that my journey with it was more or less over. Oh boy, was I wrong. Very intense things keep happening: either through conversations with readers, or reading many mails and messages I keep getting from readers who describe how deeply and magically my book touched and impacted them. And then there are sometimes really intensive journeys, like the one I just went through with my dear friend and…
The unconquerable virus of cult
As I already mentioned in my post The Murky Waters of Asymmetric Relationships, I was a member of two different cult systems in my early twenties, and then later on ended up working as a psychotherapist, helping many people to liberate themselves from various spiritual cult systems. So, I learned about cult systems both from inside and from the outside, and after decades I still keep being surprised how easily will groups and organisations, even those with the most noble visions, slide into cult-like swamps. It almost seems that the reasons that brought people together is irrelevant; whether it is…
When messengers of a possible world depart
The first time it happened to me was in 2001, when I read in the morning newspaper (yes, back in those times) that George Harrison had died. I remember being suddenly overwhelmed by emotions and ended up sobbing over my morning mug of tea. Later I was pondering what happened. Yes, I did like the Beatles and I did like George Harrison among them best, but the extent and intensity of sadness was puzzling. As I was staying with the emotions for the next couple of days, I started to realize that this world suddenly felt a lonelier place to be.…
Facing my Whiteness
For most of my adult years I firmly believed I had nothing to do with racism, white supremacy, white privilege and similar concepts. I was peacefully sure that they did not apply to me whatsoever, and that, if anything at all, I could only be labelled as an anti-racist or something alike. And I had very solid reasons for that belief. You see, I grew up in Yugoslavia, which was one of the initiating countries of the Non-Alignment Movement that focused on fighting racism, imperialism, colonialism and, during the cold war, posing as a third way, between NATO and Warsaw…
Inspired by meeting a Greek god
Sometimes life provides inspiring moments that are better than what I could come up with in my fantasy. For example, several years ago I landed, together with my then-wife on Crete, to start our one-week vacation. As it had been agreed beforehand, there was somebody waiting for us in the arrival hall, with our names on a piece of paper, to hand us the car we rented for that week. And, it was not just somebody. It was a Greek god embodied! A tall and muscular young man in his late twenties, as handsome as a man can ever get,…
How can Nonviolent Communication be helpful in these transformative times? – by Roxy Manning
This is a blog post by my dear trainer colleague Roxy Manning that I found very touching and meaningful. I am grateful to Roxy for having allowed me to re-post it here: Even in the midst of all that is moving in the world, three experiences left me particularly shaken today. Each gave clarity about what NVC can offer in the midst of these times, and where we need to be vigilant. Here are the three events that shaped my day. I awoke this morning to a post by a white friend to an NVC listserv. She asked that white…